Religion pure and undefiled before God the Father
is this... to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

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We must remain unspotted by the
world. And, of all places, we ought to show this by our behavior at the holy
Sacrifice of the Mass... especially by our manner of dress. Said
another way, beach wear belongs at the beach, not at holy mass. And yet
how many Catholics this Summer will attend Sunday Mass in tank tops, shorts,
flip flops... in dress unbecoming of the Holy Sacrifice. No knobby knees nor
tank tops please. Anyone who dresses like this at Sunday Mass does not
know where they are; they have become spotted by the world.

We will speak on dress for women and men at the holy Mass... especially on
Sunday.

But let me preface that I did not wake up this morning thinking, “I wonder how
I can ruin their day?” I do not want to make you mad, but only advance
your salvation. Our dress can be a touchy topic... but all of us should
want to correct errors should they exist.

First, we should give a definition. Modesty in dress is the virtue which
regulates the type of clothing and the manner of its wearing so that it
conforms to the purposes by which clothing is worn. Now the purpose of
clothing is to protect against the weather, to reveal status or position or
formality in society, and to preserve decency.

On this discussion of modesty at Sunday Mass, we concern ourselves with two
purposes for wearing clothes, namely, to preserve decency and to reveal
formality; to safeguard purity and to show the importance of the holy Sacrifice
i.e, that God is appearing on our altar.

Now how should women dress at holy Mass?

Indecency of women’s dress at the holy Sacrifice is not a new thing. In
1921, Pope Benedict XV (Sacra propediem) lamented the indecent dress of women
at holy Mass this way,

“...one
cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and
condition; made foolish by a desire to please, they do not see to what degree
the indecency of the clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God.
Most of them would formerly have blushed for those toiletries as for a grave
fault against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit
them on public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the
churches, to assist at the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the
seductive food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives
the heavenly author of purity.”

Generally speaking, women exceed the virtue of modesty in dress:
they dress so as to obtain undue attention through them... (but holy Mass is
not a pick up joint);
they dress and become too much attached to clothing and styles... (it is hard
for them to change.)

But what is the right measure? Sometimes an invitation to a formal event
reads, “wear modest dress.” That is not very helpful. We need more
detail. Even among ourselves we will disagree on set limits for modest
dress. We have a good outline, however, from a member of the hierarchy...
when they used to speak on these things.

On Sept. 24, 1956, the Cardinal Vicar of Pius XII standardized modesty in dress
for women,

“A
dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth
under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the
elbows; scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of
transparent materials are improper.”

Again, according to the Card. Vicar, a dress is not modest if it is deeper than
two fingers width beneath the pit of the throat... ( to cover cleavage);
dresses should cover the arms at least to the elbow; dresses should reach at least
to the shin... (to preserve modesty in sitting); dresses should not be of a
transparent material to which we may add, nor tight fitting... (for obvious
reasons.)

Now a woman might complain, “this is too much.” And while it is true that
men must practice responsible self control, it is equally true that women
respect the nature of man whose imagination is easily stirred by the women’s
figure and adequately veil parts of her body... otherwise she may sin against
modesty and charity towards neighbor.

Moreover, while modest dresses as exactly defined are difficult to find... all
will be well if we shop with a pure motive. The dress we buy should
preserve us and our neighbor in virtue; if we shop with this motive we will not
sin and we will have something worthy of God for holy Mass.

Now how should a man dress at the holy Sacrifice?

If women exceed the virtue, it is common for men to come up short in practicing
the virtue of modesty in dress. Men, we are inclined to be careless or
slovenly about what we wear... (even at holy Mass); and young men are prone to
deliberately neglect their dress so as to attract attention.

At holy Mass, men should wear a coat and tie; or, at least, a collared shirt
and nice slacks.

Young men must be taught that baggy pants are not appropriate; that their hair
be nicely cut and combed; that shirts be clean and without slogans or cross
bones or a dragon,... or anything which may give Satan the appearance of being
honored. (“I love SkAT’N” shirt worn by a teenager has a double meaning
unacceptable anywhere.)

That is a brief outline of proper dress for men and women at holy Mass.
Please know that only the priest should correct someone’s dress at holy
Mass. Do not assume this task to yourself. It has happened that a
visitor poorly dressed but with honest motives comes to Mass and is forever
turned away because of a rude admonishment by a member of the community.

Now concerning women wearing pants at church: On June 12, 1960 Giuseppe Card.
Siri authored the document Notification Concerning Men’s Dress Worn By
Women. Card. Siri says wearing pants is not a grave offense against
modesty as such what to him seems the gravest issue with pants is that it
affects the woman’s identity in how she understands herself, in how she
relates to her husband, and in how she relates to her children.

I recognize that since Card. Siri’s time there are now modest feminine pants on
the market. And I recognize that there are certain occupations for which
pants may be more suited than a dress. It is my belief, however, that a
woman should wear a dress more often than pants... namely for the reasons Card.
Siri mentions and especially at holy Mass as a dress more identifies the woman.

Finally, let me say I appreciate the way you dress at the holy Mass. This
is a wonderful example of your faith and it edifies me... who grew up in a lax
Catholic environment. Doubtless, your example edifies visitors as
well. And never forget, our reverent behavior and dress at the holy
Sacrifice will one day be rewarded with a happy Eternity... a place for our
best clothes.